Solitude [Open RP]

Post by Monday

“I don’t think we’re supposed to go this way,” Thomas said, glancing longingly back at the path that they had just left.

“Don’t be such a wimp!” John called back, already at least thirty feet away down the gloomy trail. Trees stretched overhead, their dark boughs obscuring any light from reaching the darkened paths below. “Mom’s not here right now. This might be our only chance!”

“I still don’t think we’re supposed to go this way,” Thomas mumbled, following afterwards. He cringed away from the mist intruding from within the trees.

“Rules are made to be broken!” John said loudly, punching Thomas in the arm, who flinched. “Come on, just this one time. An opportunity like this only happens once a lifetime!”

“Actually, children,” chimed in a new voice: deep, resonant and sounding dryly amused. “Rules were meant to keep you safe.”

Thomas glanced around wildly, then both jumped as a figure, bearded and dressed all in black, appeared on the path in front of them. “But now that you’ve broken them and entered our domain, there can be no going back.”

“You can’t tell me what to do!” John yelled. He looked around quickly and spotted a stone on the ground. He grabbed it and threw it at the man and yelled, “Run!” Following his own advice, he turned and began to run back the way they had come.

Before he’d gone ten feet, however, two large grey wolves appeared from out of the mist, blocking off the path. He stared in horror and began to back away. He felt a hand on his shoulder and flinched in shock, looking up to see the bearded man. “Child, you can’t run and you can’t hide,” he said, his mouth lolling open in a canine grin as fur began to cover his face.

His last words ended in a growl. “You can only hunt, or be hunted!”

Welcome to the city of Grimmwald. Once, it was a shining paragon of order and human strength. Now, however, it is a dark and savage place. Back, almost forty years before the discovery of the lost contninent of Pandaria, trees began to grow around the city. They began growing faster and faster, gaining several feet a day, until the city and the land about it was completely cut off from the outside world.

Many have tried to pass through the forest, but none have ever returned. All expeditions and scouting trips into the forest have vanished without a trace. To combat the menace lurking in the forest, great watchtowers were erected near the border of the forest and populated with the most competent soldiers that Grimmwald could field. Farmers bravely till the earth right up to the edges of the forest to provide for the city, but even they glance over their shoulders at every sound and wear a blade at their waist.

The soldiers are not always successful, either. Disappearances are common, and many strange things have been sighted in the forest.

A pack of wolves was spotted near the southern border, though these beasts walk like men. None who confront them survive, thus their intelligence remains unknown.

Three men once entered into the fringes of the forest and seemed to return unharmed, becoming instant celebrities. However, these men: Ivanov, Varga and Balogh, became rather less popular when the city discovered that they had been afflicted with a taste for blood and demonic powers. Soon, their families had also been cursed as they were, and all three families retired to their large estates in the southern district of the city.

Other, more human enemies also pose a threat to the city of Grimmwald. Five years before the current date, a religious order was established by a certain Oswald Swampdale, and named the Only Path of the True Gaze. The followers of the path seemed normal at first, but after a time began to turn aggressive and unpredictable. They armed themselves and attempted an insurrection, but were put down by the Dark Watch. Many claimed that they were hoodwinked and controlled by Swampdale, who vanished mysteriously during the fighting, and were spared execution. However, these people have soon descended back to their dark paths, and none know from where they draw their unholy strength...

Around ten years ago, sorcerers arose throughout the city. Former mages one and all, they claimed that they had been contacted by a power so vast and incomprehensible that they had almost been insane. Soon, each vanished from the public eye. It was only when dark whispers began to surface of a group known as the Cult of the Damned that the city officials learned the horrifying truth of where these mages had gone: into the sewer system beneath the streets. The Dark Watch were sent into the dank tunnels to clear them out. However, only a few returned, bloodstained and wild, claiming to have fought living corpses and seen their slain comrades arise to do battle once again.

Lastly, many from around the edges of the forest began to speak of a strange murmuring echoing from the depths of the wood. When confronted, none of the Dark Watch, standing guard from their towers, knew anything. City officials dismissed it, though soon those who claimed to hear the whispers began to vanish into the wood. Now, those who live near the edges have reported bonfires and strange, inhuman shouts echoing from the depths of the trees...

The trolls of Zul’shaidyr lurk in their city hidden deep within the forest and often venture outside to raid the farmland. No large party has seen the city, though one or two adventurers have claimed sightings of it, east of the city.

Not all seek the destruction of the city, however.

The Church of the Radiant Steps watches over the city from the Cathedral District. Its priests and soldiers walk the paths of the city, combating darkness wherever they see it and proclaiming the glory of the Light. Some have even begun to combine the two, bringing about the Order of the Martial Word, priests who wear the armor of soldiers and wield large, two handed blades.

The Dark Watch stands its eternal vigil around the edges of the forest and reigns in the Muncipal District. Soldiers one and all, none possess any magic or power, instead combating the darkness through raw strength and pure will.

In the Mage District, the Society of the Red Moon experiments ceaselessly from within their towers. Alchemists, mages and enchanters, they seek to end the forest around them and to free themselves from what they call the Curse of Solitude. However, whatever power afflicted them with the forest also seems to have left residual traces in the very fabric of magic within the Grimmwald, for any mage who wields arcane magic is doomed to go mad after a period of years. Some fight it and many succeed, but the whispering madness scratches on the border of every mind, waiting, ever waiting...

From the Keep within the Muncipal District, Mayor Bridgewater and the City Council direct the forces of the Dark Watch, while also keeping such mundane things as the sanitation systems and wells flowing as they should. Ever vigilant, they act in the best interests of the people, though their power can only do so much against so many foes...

So, as you have probably gathered, this RP is slightly different from the others. The setting is the fortress city of Grimmwald, which is divided into six districts, much like Stormwind: The Trade District, the Muncipal District, the Mage District, the Cathedral District, the Worker’s District and the City Park. Each has its own purpose in keeping the city running smoothly.

Additionally, there are several privately owned properties within the city in their own district, such as the Three Families’ holdings and the Manor of Dr. Walden.

Around the city are several miles of farmland, where the food production comes in. Two rivers flow from the forest, one north of the city and one south. These rivers are heavily watched and used to keep the farmland fertile.

Lastly, the Forest reigns eternal and supreme, covered in mist and watching over the city and the land outside. Many threats lurk inside the forest, but also, just possibly, a glint of hope that the curse may be broken and the city freed once again.

A few rules:

Races: Humans, Elves (High elves), Gnomes, Dwarves and trolls.

Any class is open (even death knights, though very, very few are present). Druids will not be night elven style, however, and more of the worgen harvest witches. Same with shamans.

Please don't take any really high/leadership position in the Dark Watch, Church, etc. I have plans for them.

Don’t godmode other people’s characters!

Communicate!

And, lastly, have fun!

Post by Monday

Character: Andrey IvanovLocation: Grimmwald Plains

The man stood near the door to the barn. He stood still, stiller than any human. One could easily mistake the gaunt figure for a statue. He was clad in heavy black robes, with a featureless iron mask over his face, baring only his mouth. His hands were gloved (with conspicuously pointed fingers) and his feet clad in heavy boots.

And there he waited for the human to drive in his cattle so that Andrey might partake of his.

Character: Simon RichardsLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

The Martial's steps sounded on the cobblestones, heavy and bleak. He walked alone, his only light being that generated from the hand he held as his side. A halberd was clutched in his other hand, which also shone with its own soft, golden light. He heard a sound and glanced to the side, exposing his face to the light for one brief moment. It was a hard face, lined with scars and covered with a short beard. His eyes were just as hard as his face, an icy blue.

After a moment, he determined it to be nothing and marched on.

Post by Stabhorn

Character: James 'Light's Wrath' BrightshieldLocation: The Forest

James Brightshield surveyed what he had assembled. Through months of work and dedication, five hundred had joined James on his quest. The man would lead this large procession of soldiers, farmers, craftsmen and spellcasters into the Forest and try to establish a settlement in its heart. Contact would be kept continually with Grimmwald as the settlers made their way deeper into the Forest. Years worth of food, clothing, weapons and other supplies were kept in large carriages that were pulled by many strong horses. Herds of cows, sheep, horses, turkeys, chickens and donkeys were ushered through the caravan by many skilled farmers. James drew a deep breath and took his first step into the Forest.

Post by UrAgahn

Character: Nicol BaloghLocation: Grimmwald Suburb - House Balogh

The man had no shadow.

Logs cracked merrily in the fireplace as blazes consumed them, a sharp contrast to the hall's morbid atmosphere. The flames were the only source of light in the room on this starless night, the sky low and heavy with swollen, looming clouds that looked like cadavers bloating in sickness and threatening to burst with rot and pus eating them from the insides. The heavy drapes usually blocking the wide, ornate windows were now pulled back to swing the latter open, and the fires danced merrily to the howling winds. So did the shadows of whichever object the infernal vermillion light fell upon; the shadows turned elegantly curving table legs into skeleton limbs bursting from the grave, knurled with the scabs of dead flesh still clinging to it, they changed resplendent sets of plate armor standing guard into snarling gargoyles, bristling as they readied to pounce, and they twisted the regal faces upon the portraits on the walls into monstrous visages forever locked in a rictus grin that had nothing human to it anymore.

Yet the gaunt man standing tall before the fireplace had no shadow; rather, he was a shadow in and of himself. Here in his seat of power, it was impossible to tell where his long robe of blackest silk ended and darkness on the carpet-covered floor beneath him began, thicker than any other shade in the room - for all intents and purposes, the man and the dark were one.

His thin lips pulled back, revealing a set of white, unsettlingly sharp teeth in a smile that failed to reach his beady eyes - two drops of obsidian, glinting with sparks that were anything but the reflection of the lively fire in the hearth - the only thing truly alive in the room. Long tresses of coal black hair, fine enough to border on yet not quite reach brittleness framed his pallid countenance and coiled around his neck not unlike poison ivy twisting around a heretofore healthy tree in a choking embrace.

Smiling to a joke he alone knew, lord Nicol of house Balogh watched the flames dance in the fireplace.

Post by Stabhorn

Character: Eye Location: Grimmwald Park

"Always give without fear and rejoice in your good deeds. Never say no too one in need and never withhold kindness. Be good to all; for that is the best we can do."

That had been his mother's motto, before she died; it had been his too.

But that was before he had given up his soul...

Life was strangely empty without a soul; the only pleasure he found was in killing things; and he was very good at that. Most of the mysterious murders that took place in Grimmwald were caused by him; though he was far to clever to leave traces. In fact, in his opinion, the only thing greater at killing than him was the Forest itself, or maybe the Old Gods.

But Eye could do nothing about the Old Gods.

He absently mindedly threw a dagger, spearing the small, thin squirrel through its gullet. Perhaps he could do something about the Forest. But as easily as he could deal out death, he did not want to meet it...not yet, anyway. This would have to be handle carefully.

Post by Neonhyper

Character: Eleanor AshworthLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

Eleanor watched the Marshal walk by, choking on her own heavy breathing as the footsteps passed. The young woman was petite, but her tiny form was hidden under a heavy woolen cloak against which she was clutching a simple crossbow, one of the bolts clenched between her teeth by the shaft. Disheveled red hair was pulled into a lopsided ponytail, most of the strands having escaped and hid her tiny, pointed ears from view. Red-rimmed blue-green eyes were set above freckled marred, tear stained cheeks on her pale face.

"He's gone," came an intoned, smooth voice from her left. Leaning against a nearby wall with the utmost casualness, a taller, brown-haired half-elf stared up at the bleary sky.

"I know," Eleanor whispered coarsely, turning her head to the side to look at him, only to find that he had disappeared. She swallowed tightly, and pulled away from the wall, back pedaling as she watched the street. Unfortunately, that meant that she stumbled straight into an empty barrel sitting in the alley, sending her, the wooden container, and her crossbow crashing into the puddle behind her.

Post by Monday

Character: Simon RichardsLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

Simon flipped around, holding up his light to further illuminate the street. "Who's there?" he called, gripping his halberd tightly.

Character: Andrey IvanovLocation: Grimmwald Plains

Andrey wiped his mouth with a silken handkerchief, letting the desiccated corpse of the farmer fall to the dirt floor of the barn. All the animals were in a frenzy, kicking at stalls or screaming madly. He merely laughed, a delicate, cultured thing, before striding from the barn.

Now that he was satiated, it was time to follow his true prey.

Post by Stabhorn

Character: Umandar BigbellyLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

"What's the problem?" called Umander to Simon.

Post by Neonhyper

Character: Eleanor AshworthLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

Eleanor listened to the echo of the shouting, unable to hold back her panicked breathing. She rolled over, splashing water onto her coat as she reached for the fallen crossbow bolt and the weapon it went too, trying to scramble to her feet, and making a ruckus while doing so.

Post by Stabhorn

Character: Umandar BigbellyLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

The dwarf spun towards the sound, an axe flying out of his coat.

Post by Snake387

Character: Vorpel TrackLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

Sighing, Vorpel wondered once again why the church couldn't get a paladin to guard their stupid church at night. Sure, he wouldn't get the same amount of money but at least he'd sleep regular hours! Yawning, Vorpel flashed his torch once more and caught a glint of metal. Disregarding it instantly as a piece of rubbish, Vorpel still abandoned his slumped position and became more watchful.

As fast as a shadow, and just as silent, Andrey slipped up into the trees around the forest and moved towards the large party he had spotted earlier. He ended up crouching in the higher boughs of one particularly large tree as they began to move underneath him.

Fools, he thought. Humans all. They'll never live.I had to give up my humanity first...

As he sat, pondering, a low howl echoed through the trees.

Post by Stabhorn

Character: Umandar BigbellyLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

"As am I!" shouted the dwarf, following Simon.

Post by Neonhyper

Character: Eleanor AshworthLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

Eleanor slid the bolt into the crossbow, unfortunately too late for it to do much good. A sharp gasp choked in her throat as a sharp pain shot through her right leg. The crossbow clattered to the ground as she pulled herself against the nearest wall, staring at horror between the bloody axe that had fallen to the ground near her leg, a massive gash gaping along the side of her calf.

"That's bad, that's really bad," he examined, kneeling down next to her leg. "I can't pull you out of here. Try and stay put, I'll get someone--Shh! Someone's coming!"

She looked up, eyes full of terror and flickering shadows, and August was gone.

Post by Stabhorn

Character: Umandar BigbellyLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

His acute ears catching the distinct sound of flesh on metal, Umandar rushed into the alley towards the sound, axe hefted and ready to strike.

Post by Monday

Character: Simon RichardsLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

Simon cursed and rushed in afterwards.

Post by Neonhyper

Character: Eleanor AshworthLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

Eleanor wrapped her hands around the gash, the blood seeping through her fingers, and her breaths were both erratic and labored as she tried to get through the pain.

Post by Stabhorn

Character: Umandar BigbellyLocation: Grimmwald, Cathedral District

Umandar stopped before the barrel and motioned at Simon.

Post by UrAgahn

Character: Nicol BaloghLocation: Grimmwald Suburb - House Balogh

Nicol turned his head to the side, as if having heard something in the shrieks of the midnight gale. His smile widened and he murmured with soft amusement in his voice, "Will the hunt ever cease?"

He took a slow, almost reluctant step away from the hearth. His form stretched for a brief second before the pool of darkness on the floor let him out of its grasp and dissipated. His black robe split from the waist down into several coattails left to flare and be toyed with by the wind, revealing pinstriped trousers and lacquered sharp-nosed shoes; the coattails were vibrant red on the inside and their ragged ends seemed to be sizzling with gusts of black smoke. By contrast, the robe-turned-coat fit his torso and his slender arms like a glove, parting at the collarbone into an ear-high collar - and the sleeves ended with actual gloves as well. The coat seemed to lack any kind of seams, looking less like a piece of clothing and more akin to second skin.

Nicol walked at a leisurely pace towards the window, then vaulted into the night, the darkness embracing him and obscuring him from sight.

Post by Stabhorn

Character: EyeLocation: Grimmwald Sewers

The monstrous reptile burst from the waters like a hurricane. Teeth gnashing and its six, powerful legs stretching in everywhere. The crocodile's well muscled tail whipped out; but Eye dodged it and rammed his intricately carved spear through its head. The twenty foot monster thrashed repeatedly and finally stilled. Eye shook with pleasure...this was the first time he had felt truly alive in weeks; which meant it had been that long since he had killed something that could fight back...he was getting sloppy.

Eye crawled through the fetid waters, ignoring the bracken waste and rotting stench. The sweet, but sickly, smell of death wafted into his nostrils.

Eye turned down a side passage, following the wonderful smell. He stopped in front of a barred water gate, designed to stop large junk from going into the sewers, and blinked. Nearly a hundred and fifty corpses, in varying races and states of deterioration, were caught behind the gate, blood and smaller gobbets of flesh and entrails were flowing in the almost stagnant water past him.

Eye cocked his head to one side, torn between enjoying this moment and something that had not stirred in his brain for a very, very, long time; a question...why?

It was answered; "I have a proposition for you, Karlington..." said a growling voice from the shadows.